Online fundraising may require different strategies for various devices – recent research finds

Most charities don’t adapt their online fundraising strategies to the electronic devices donors use when deciding whether to click a “donate” button. This is what our market research team discovered once we analyzed the donation pages of each non-profit organization on the Forbes Top 100 Charities list.

Instead, people typically see equivalent fundraising appeals whether or not they're using smartphones or PCs. However, in a series of studies we conducted on this topic, our team found that this approach could hurt fundraising efforts.

Stefan J. Hock, Kelly B. Herd and me are marketing scientists who’ve joined forces for this research project. We published our ends in the March 2024 issue of Journal of Consumer Psychology.

In one study, we showed 247 people an actual Salvation Army fundraising appeal on their smartphone or PC. People who accomplished the study on their smartphone reported feeling less focused on other people and were subsequently less inclined to donate money to the Salvation Army. We donated all the funds allocated to the Salvation Army after the study was accomplished.

We also considered whether participants had ever donated to a charity, how often they donate, how much they donate annually, how often they donate online, their gender, their age, and their income.

In one other experiment, we teamed up with a German charity, Action Germany Helps – “Campaign Germany Helps” in English. Using images from the campaign's website, we created Google ads that either focused on helping others or not. The first ad said, “People in Ukraine need help.” The second ad said, “We are providing emergency aid to Ukraine.”

Again, we found that smartphone users were less more likely to click on the donation appeal than PC users when it was not targeted at others. However, when the ad was targeted at helping others, smartphone and PC users were equally more likely to donate.

Our findings show that by explicitly highlighting the needs of others, charities can overcome the so-called “mobile giving gap” and help raise more cash from smartphone users.

Why it is crucial

To persuade someone to make a charitable donation, you regularly must make them feel compassion for others. However, recent research has found a so-called “Mobile mindset“”: When people have a look at their smartphones, they think more about their very own needs and fewer about those of others.

Because smartphones often feel like an extension of ourselves, they could cause people to focus intensely on their very own needs and interests.

Online donations made about 12% of the cash raised by charities in 2023says Blackbaud, a software company that many charities depend on for this purpose. The proportion of donors who make no less than a few of their donations online is increasing and reached 40% in 2023a consulting firm found.

Based on our findings, we recommend that charities tailor their fundraising appeals to the form of device a donor uses. This can easily be achieved through programs similar to: Google Adswhich allows advertisers to focus on ads to people based on the device they use.

What will not be yet known

Further research is required to find out whether the form of device used also affects the likelihood that somebody will take part in other activities that profit society.

For example, researchers could investigate whether the form of device makes a difference in a user's willingness to volunteer at hospitals, homeless shelters and other facilities. Or they might explore how receiving news on a smartphone or a PC affects the willingness to recycle or buy environmentally friendly products.

It may be worthwhile to research whether mobile web site design features, similar to the prominence or absence of “donate” buttons, may impact fundraising results.